Should the 19 year old Florida school shooter be given the death penalty?

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From Wikipedia: On July 27, 2016, a federal judge ruled that Hinckley would be allowed to be released from St. Elizabeths on August 5,[31] as he was no longer considered a threat to himself or others. The pivotal conditions of his release are that he has no contact with the Reagan family, the Brady family, or Jodie Foster or Foster’s family or agent. He will live with his 90-year-old mother and be restricted to a 50 mi (80 km) zone around her home in Williamsburg, Virginia.[31][32][33][34] Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016, and will live full-time at his mother’s home.[1] As part of his release, he is excluded from using alcohol, possessing any firearms, ammunition and other weaponry, from reading any printed or online pornography, listening to violent music, speaking to the press, has to work at least three days a week, can drive no more than 30 mi (48 km) from his mother’s home or 50 mi (80 km) if attended, and must see a psychiatrist twice a month. His Internet use is subject to limitations and scrutiny, and he is not allowed to erase his computer’s web browser history.

John Hinckley Jr. - Wikipedia.
 
Grew up with 2 mentally ill people in my family. Intimately familiar with it.
 
rcwitness said:
The State does not have to practice Capital Punishment!

And I dont think his being put to death would prevent others from committing these crimes. They are predominantly suicidal.
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It doesn’t have to use the death penalty, that is simply one way for it to punish serious criminals (and I would argue an effective way that ought to be used). My point was to counter your “don’t throw the first stone” argument.
nearlycatholic said:
Arkansan, you missed my point. Regardless of whether a would be “whatever” is deterred or not by CP doesn’t change the Scripture Genesis 9:6. It’s right because God said so.
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I disagree with your interpretation of Genesis 9:6.
 
A couple posters mentioned St. Thomas Aquinas and his teaching. It is in the Summa (Second part of the second part, question 64) which can be found on line with ease.
 
You’re welcome. Yes I noticed you said “historically”. My posting of CCC 2267 was more for the benefit of the thread readers in general.
 
Are you suggesting that we should execute democratically elected representatives because
they don’t agree with you?

@Jerusha @guanophore @Cecilia_Dympna thoughts???
 
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rcwitness said:
The State does not have to practice Capital Punishment!

And I dont think his being put to death would prevent others from committing these crimes. They are predominantly suicidal.
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In this case I totally agree with you. People who typically do this crime are suicidal, so the death penalty in this case would be less about prevention.

The question is: what would be Justice here? If your (not really your but the hypothetical you) child was one of the children murdered, would you want the death penalty or would you be ok with life in prison?

Personally, I want to say that I would be ok with life in prison, but if it was my son or daughter, I sure I would want to kill the shooter myself.

So I don’t know. Some have argued that the death penalty is merciful for some criminals - esp the ones who commit crimes that criminals in jail find repulsive (like killing children in a school).

This particular situation is a moral enigma. The only thing I know for sure is: if this crime took place in the Papal States, the shooter would face the death penalty- most likely by the guillotine.

God Bless
 
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Which is why I cannot condone a premeditated murderer getting any less than life without parole.
 
Clearly incarceration has not been sufficient to render them unable to kill more people. The death penalty is a necessity in that case.
 
Spyridon said:
America is one of the few developed nations which still uses the outdated death penalty - let’s pray it is abolished soon.
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I don’t think we should completely abolish the death penalty, but I do think (1) States should have the right to abolish it (2) there should be a national standard to what kind of crimes warrant it (3) it should far more rare than it is today.

The main logistic problem (besides the moral issues) with the Death Penalty in the US is the inconsistency between states. Each state differs in what it considers a capital crime.
 
Curious11 said:
Than by your own logic Jesus would lock you up forever.
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No!

It is a principle recognized by the Church, that while forgiveness is the imperative of Christ, man does have the right and the responsibility to punish criminals, not only for their behavior, but also to protect society in general from their future criminal deeds. You (willingly I think) mixed up the idea of the responsibility I have to Christ and his law of love and mercy, with the very real and proper punishment of criminals at the civil/societal levels.
 
No, i suggest they should be subject to punishment fitting being accomplices to capital crimes.
 
Subjecting them to the legal process does not constitute disagreement…but honestly, yes i disagree with the evil despots holdong power in this once righteous nation…but that opinion is of no more value than yours.
 
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